High court upholds Ba'asyir verdict
High court upholds Ba'asyir verdict
Associated Press, Jakarta
The Jakarta High Court has upheld a 30-month prison sentence for
accused terror chief Abu Bakar Ba'asyir for conspiracy in the
2002 Bali nightclub bombings, a court official said on Monday.
Lawyers for Ba'asyir, who the United States and Australia
allege is the spiritual head of the al-Qaida-linked Jamaah
Islamiyah terror group, said they had yet to be informed of the
decision but would appeal to the Supreme Court.
Ba'asyir was convicted in March of conspiracy in the Bali
bombings, which killed 202 people, but cleared him of more
serious charges of planning the 2003 attack on the U.S.-owned JW
Marriott hotel in Jakarta that killed 12 people.
Husein Kasing, a spokesman for the Jakarta High Court, said
judges there "had rejected the appeal" filed by Ba'asyir after
that verdict but gave no details on the ruling.
The court, which convenes behind closed doors, reached its
verdict on May 11, but did not immediately publicize it, as is
customary in Indonesia.
The 30-month sentence was decried by the governments of the
United States and Australia, which were hoping for a longer
punishment to deter terrorism in the world's most populous Muslim
nation.
The conspiracy conviction relates to allegations that Amrozi
bin Nurhasyim, who was convicted with more than 30 other
militants in the Bali bombings, visited Ba'asyir three months
before the attacks to ask for his blessing.
Amrozi did not testify during the trial and prosecutors based
that part of their case on what police alleged he told them about
the meeting. Ba'asyir denied the exchange ever occurred.
"This decision is naked cheating because our key witness,
Amrozi, never testified at Ba'asyir's trial," said Ba'asyir
lawyer Mahendradata. "We will now take this to the Supreme
Court."
Ba'asyir, 66, is known for strong anti-Western and anti-
Semitic views but has denied any involvement in terrorism.
Meanwhile, two suspected militants went on trial on Monday
accused in last year's suicide bombing of the Australian Embassy,
an attack prosecutors said was launched to avenge Canberra's
support for the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.
Both suspects could face the death penalty if found guilty in
the blast, which killed 10 people and was blamed on Jamaah
Islamiyah.
Prosecutor Andi Herman told the South Jakarta District Court
that Neri Anshori joined the attack's alleged masterminds --
Malaysians Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohd. Top -- in
transporting the explosives from east Java to Jakarta ahead of
the blast.
The second suspect, Mohamad Hasan, was accused of helping the
two Malaysians, who remain on the run, make the bomb. He also
rode a motorbike used to transport Azahari away from the scene of
the blast after he detonated the bomb by remote control, said
Fence Ferloway, a second prosecutor.
"Noordin Mohd. Top told (Anshori and Noordin) that the attack
was necessary because Australia helped America in attacking
Afghanistan," said Ferloway.
"Australia and America have killed Muslims in Afghanistan.
That is why we have to attack the embassy," Ferloway quoted
Noordin as saying.
No Australian diplomats or other foreigners were killed in the
attack. Most of the dead were Indonesian passers-by.
Neither suspect was required to enter a plea during Monday's
proceedings.
However, Mohamad denied any wrongdoing in an interview before
the trial began. "I don't know who they (Noordin or Azahari)
are," he said. "I was just walking down the street one day and I
was arrested. I don't know how to make bombs."
Proceedings against three other suspected militants accused in
the embassy attack have already begun.